BSP joins BJP over special Par session for stringest rape law

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she sought convening of the session to amend laws relating to crime against women to provide for stringent punishment as also to pass the Constitutional amendment bill pending in Lok Sabha.

BJP leader Sushma Swaraj had yesterday urged the Prime Minister to convene Parliament for amending the existing law to provide death sentence for heinous crimes against women.

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is Leader of the Lok Sabha, has, however, ruled out Swaraj's demand.

Mayawati, in her letter, also blamed Samajwadi Party for not allowing the quota bill to be passed in Lok Sabha on the last two days of the just-ended Winter Session, and said the special session should be convened before the Budget Session.

She said the bill could have been passed had the government requested the Chair to either suspend the SP members or get them removed by marshals.

Referring to last Sunday's gangrape case here, Mayawati said such incidents are on the rise across the country, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.

Targeting the Akhilesh Yadav government, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister blamed the SP regime for the prevailing law and order situation in the state. "There have been 1500 cases of rape in UP in the last nine months," she said.

Seeking protection of women, Mayawati recalled that several political leaders had supported amending the existing laws dealing with crime against women to make them more stringent.

BJP today once again demanded a special session of Parliament to discuss the 'entire gamut of law and order issue' in the wake of the gang-rape incident that has sparked a wave of protests.

"We demand a special session of Parliament for discussing the whole gamut of issues concerning law and order," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said as he condemned the police action against the protesters.